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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XI. 



Mal-asna. 



AtGalketiyagama,* about five miles north-west of Wellowa, 

 and a mile and a half from where the range of rocks above 

 described terminates, on the bank of the Deduru-oya, stands 

 a stone column surmounted by a square slab of rock, said to 

 be over eight hundred years old, called Mal-asna, which 

 is held in high religious veneration by the Buddhists. It is 

 also known as Gal-asna, Menik-asna, and Payawahansa, 

 owing, respectively, to the inscription on it, the gems of 

 which it is believed to be composed, and the sanctity in 

 which it is held. 



The approach thither is by a desolate jungle path, and save 

 for the sacred structure, which attracts devout Buddhists, 

 the spot would in all probability never be visited by any 

 human beings. 



An old triumphal arch, as well as a small gable roof thatched 

 with straw and supported on two wooden pillars, about six 

 feet in height, stands at the entrance to the sacred premises. 

 To the right of the entrance is the dewale building, a rude 

 mud-and-wattle construction thatched with straw, which con- 

 tains old cutlasses, swords, tridents, and other weapons used 

 by the Kapurdla on ceremonial occasions ; and on the left 

 is a small temple built of stones, with half walls, and thatched 

 similarly, which contains the stone altar. The buildings 

 lie in the shade of enormous forest trees, whose huge 

 overhanging branches shelter them from the sun and rain. 



The structure known as Mal-asna consists of a stone column 

 with its capital and base moulded in a fashion resembling 

 the Ionic style of architecture, and is about three feet from 

 the ground. The capital supports a slab of rock about ?>\ 

 to 4 feet square, and about two inches thick. The quaint 

 inscription, supposed to be " ndgara" runs in eight rows, 

 about an inch broad on each side, and the lines dividing the 

 rows compose the sides of squares within squares, terminating 

 in a square in the centre, the side of which is about twelve 

 inches long. There is no writing on it. Miiller thinks that 



